Incoming!

Do you ever look at a mess or something in your house that needs to be done and think to yourself, if I don’t deal with that it will be there until the end of time? A while back, Mike Rowe from the Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs told Oprah that if we didn’t have roadkill-removal it would only be a matter of days until the interstates were  undrivable.

I feel that way about the processing I do in my household. Okay, so our roadkill is just stuffed animals, but were I removed from our household equation our house would probably become a candidate for the show Hoarders in no time.

You know, none of those baby books tell you when you become a mom you are also required to develop and hone  processing skills. As mothers we process everything, don’t we? It’s overwhelming sometimes and if you fall behind, then your house can quickly get out of control. And I only have two kids. I am sure that each additional kid compounds the avalanche exponentially.

I don’t know about you, but we get tons of papers that come home through backpacks and diaper bags. In fact that’s one of the first things I do when we get home–go through the back and look for anything I can get rid of. And I usually find things that require some action on my part. If I neglect to process the bags right away, sometimes that bites me in the butt.

Then there are clothes. They grow out of things (or ruin them) so if you don’t go through their stuff regularly, the dresser and closet are full of things you aren’t using. And your mismatched socks are not only different colors but different sizes.  I keep one of those Rubbermaid Totes in each closet and when I encounter something that doesn’t fit I throw it in there. Then you have to get it all to the right place. My sisters and I pass clothes back and forth. I’m grateful for it, but it’s yet another processing duty.

I have sold clothes in a couple of consignment sales, which is a pain, but  one good thing about it is it forces you to do a look through for things that don’t need to be in the house. There’s something therapeutic about moving things along. (Even if you are just making way for more thing to come in).

Toys. We have accumulated so many toys. I have to go through them periodically to take out the things they no longer use. Only then are my kids interested in those toys–when they think they are going away. So I have learned to do my toy sorting when they aren’t around. Also,  I think when you have too much stuff they can’t see what’s there, so I rotate some of the bigger items in and out of the attic. But again that’s a process that has to be executed. And if I don’t do it, who will? (I don’t think my husband has a clue about what it takes to process our house). Does yours?

Laundry. Do your kids change clothes twelve times a day? I wouldn’t mind so much, but their 20-minute outfits end up in the laundry pile. When I see something in there I have ironed, I usually blow my stack.

Most people have a junk drawer. I have a whole junk station. There is a portion of our kitchen that has cabinets and a short counter space and everything seems to accumulate there. The papers pile up and then when I am worried something is lurking in there that could be problematic, I force myself to tackle it. And then it is only a matter of time before it looks that way again.  Vicious cycle.

So, how’s your house? I’ve been busy lately; I have gotten a little behind on my processing.

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